Spinach, Bacon, and Pine Nut Salad

"Classic, comforting, and simple, this salad is all about getting those little details spot-on, the freshness of the spinach and salad leaves, the crispness of the smoky bacon a delicious, bright, smooth dressing made with mustard, good oil, and pickled onion juice for an extra bang—and of course those crisp bread croutons. This is hard to beat." -Jamie Oliver

Level:
Easy

Serves:
4

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Ingredients

6 thick slices of smoked bacon

olive oil

2 tbsp. (heaping) pine nuts

12 1/2-inch thick slices of French bread

6 medium pickled onions

2 tbsp. pickling liquor

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

4 tbsp. quality extra virgin olive oil

Freshly ground pepper

4 large handfuls of baby spinach

1 handful of seasonal salad leaves

Directions

Thinly slice the bacon and put into a large frying pan on a medium high heat with a good drizzle of olive oil. Fry until golden, adding pine nuts for the last minute, then scoop out with a slotted spoon onto a plate, leaving the bacon fat behind in the pan. Toast the slices of bread in the fat until beautifully golden on both sides.

Meanwhile, finely slice the pickled onions. In a large bowl, mix the pickled onion liquor with the mustard, extra virgin olive oil, and a pinch of black pepper. Gently pile the spinach and salad leaves on top, add the crispy bacon, pine nuts, and pickled onions, then lightly toss everything together. with your finger tips, picking the salad up and sprinkling it back down from a height a few times-doing it this way means the salad is perfectly dressed but you avoid bruising the leaves. Add the crispy toast croutons and tuck straight in.